Prince Albert Memorial Museum Exeter

 Happy Thursday Greetings to you! 

A few weeks ago, I paid a very quick visit to the Prince Albert Memorial Museum in Exeter before I headed south to the Historical Novel Society Conference in Devon. 

pugio scabbard 

I was mostly interested in any Roman artefacts in their collections but found them quite limited. When speaking to a museum attendant, she told me there have been few remains uncovered from the Roman era to date around Exeter, and only some very messy digging under Exeter Cathedral might be the answer to increasing their artefact count. Exeter is like many cities in England where the Romans created forts or fortresses and subsequent peoples chose to use the same site on which to build their earliest Christian churches.

Over time, those early churches were replaced and some of them ended up being the most impressive Medieval buildings (architecturally speaking). There will be Roman remains to be found under Exeter Cathedral, undoubtedly, but it's unlikely any will ever be dug up to add to the museum collections since attitudes to how acquisitions are made have changed so much over the centuries.

Strigil

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The strigil above actually came from a Kent find, but is displayed in the museum to show the visitor what one would have looked like. [Some fragments of iron and copper strigils were found in Exeter but not sufficient to put together a complete sample.] The cleansing process of adding oil to the body, then scraping it back off again - along with the dirt and debris accumulated on the skin  - is easy to imagine when admiring the strigil above.

I found some of the non-Roman collections fascinating, the Devon lace in particular. It is so intricately done.

Devon lace

It was a short visit but worth seeing. 

Slainte!

A wet Exeter!

 Happy Wednesday to you!

Prior to attending the Historical Novel Society Conference at Dartington Hall, Devon, I spent a few hours wandering around Exeter, having flown there from Edinburgh. 

Me under a very low archway-
St. Stephen;'s Bow.

I'd planned my trip so that I could spend the afternoon and evening in Exeter. I knew that Exeter Airport was pretty small, and that I could get a service bus to the city centre where my hotel was located, near a part of the old Roman wall. Unfortunately, for me, it was an extremely wet Thursday (September 5th 2024). Getting the bus was easy since they were timetabled about every half hour. Never having visited the city before, I asked the bus driver for a ticket to Exeter Cathedral since I knew that it was a short walk from there to my hotel. I'd looked at the bus route on a map and it seemed to go very close to the cathedral. I wasn't joking when I asked the driver if I'd recognise the cathedral. He told me I couldn't miss it.

Exeter Cathedral

That might have been true on a sunny day but since there was a relentless rainfall, and such a low cloud cover that I couldn't see the tops of three-storey buildings, it was impossible to see cathedral spires in the distance. The driver, to give him his due, stopped and paused at an impressive smallish church on a very busy but narrow street. No-one got off and nobody had pressed the 'bus stopping' signal. I did wonder if I was supposed to alight but the moment passed and the driver moved on. When I realrised I was in a bus only/pedestrianised area, with small shopping malls and lots of shops I got off in case I went even further away from my hotel destination.

Another impressive church near my hotel.

The 'map' route' I had in my head utterly failed me. I came to a junction and forged ahead. It was completely the wrong direction and by the time I did a full circle of the city centre, I was drenched. So drenched that after I checked into my hotel room even the contents of my pull-along suitcase were damp. 

Still, having fortified myself with an excellent late lunch and a large glass of very tasty (expensive) Malbec, and a set of dryish clothes, I went a-wandering. Not many photographs were taken outside since I couldn't see my phone for drips on my glasses and on my camera face. However, I was just in time to spend a very quick half hour inside Exeter Cathedral before it closed to tourists.

I don't visit the interiors of such places for religious reasons but I do for the architecture, and it certainly didn't disappoint. It boasts the longest, continuous medieval stone vault in the world. The whole interior is stunning and a testament to the many, maybe millions, of hours of labour put in to create it.

There are also the unexpected carvings that seem to defy any sort of kindness to man! Like this one above which depicts the martyrdom of St. Laurence who was tied to a gridiron in AD 258. Read the full description HERE

What I saw of Exeter makes me know that I'd love to see it again in sunshine! 

Shield bosses on the vaulted ceiling 


I also visited the Albert Museum the following morning...but I'll add that in another post. 

Slainte!

Historical Novel Society interview!

Good Morning!

Since being serious about becoming an author, back in 2011, I've been interviewed by many different sources. Some were for other author blog posts, and a few were for more widely visited sites.

I'm delighted to say that this week I've been  interviewed on the Historical Novel Society website, as part of a new series they've started for new book launches.

Though Novice Threads was launched in May 2024, I requested this interview as soon as I realised the possibility was there. Since it's a paid feature on the website, I have to consider the fee as part of my marketing strategy. To that end, I'll be keeping and eye out for any spike in book sales since I don't have any other particular promotions running this week.

You can catch the interview here: 

 https://historicalnovelsociety.org/launch-nancy-jardines-novice-threads/

Now to write more of Book 2. 

Slainte!